East Anglia: Former Pixar and 20th Century Fox executive Simon Bax to become chairman of Archant

Simon Bax, who is to succeed Richard Jewson as chairman of Archant.

Friday, April 11, 2014
2:00 AM

Community media group Archant, whose titles include the East Anglian Daily Times and the Ipswich Star, has appointed former Pixar and 20th Century Fox chief financial officer Simon Bax as its new chairman, to replace Richard Jewson who steps down on April 30 after more than 30 years on the board.

Mr Jewson said: “We are delighted that someone with Simon’s extensive experience of managing the impact of digital technologies in the transformation of the media and entertainment industry has decided to join us.

“I know that chief executive Adrian Jeakings and his team are excited at the opportunity to work with Simon.”

Mr Bax has spent much of his career in the United States where he held positions including chief financial officer (CFO) of Chiat/Day, the global advertising agency, executive vice-president and CFO of studio operations at 20th Century Fox and subsequently CFO of Pixar Animation Studios.

In 2008, he co-founded and became chief executive of Encompass Digital Media Inc which grew to become an international leader in network origination services and fibre transmissions and digital media encoding services before being sold in 2012.

Mr Bax said: “I am greatly looking forward to the opportunity to work with a company which has such a deep heritage and is also committed to fully addressing the challenges of a rapidly transforming media landscape.”

He is a non-executive director of Inmarsat plc, a FTSE 250 provider of global mobile satellite communications services, and of San Francisco-based MobiTV, a provider of premium end-to-end mobile media solutions.

Mr Bax, who has homes in London and north-west Norfolk, also recently joined the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association Ltd as a non-executive director.

Mr Jewson retires from the board of Archant on April 30 after 32 years, 17 of them as chairman.